Europe
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A Chorus of Cockerels—Walking on the Wild Side in Mallorca: Anna Nicholas
Published by Summersdale, 2016, 272 pages If there is a thread running through this book, it’s chickens. Chickens who behave like domestic pets or attack dogs, and rescued battery hens who wander around in little knitted pullovers or leather capes.… Continue reading
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Calabria—The Other Italy: Karen Haid
Published by Mill City Press, 2015, 280 pages Calabria is the toe in the boot of Italy. It’s the region that non-Calabrese Italians tend to look down on as crime-ridden and backward, something I found out for myself. When I… Continue reading
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Travelling While Black—Essays from a Life on the Move: Nanjala Nyabola
Published by Hurst, 2020, 264 pages Some of us travel for pleasure or work, others have no choice but to leave their homes to try and find refuge elsewhere. In this book, Nanjala Nyabola—a political analyst from Kenya—writes about people… Continue reading
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Porcelain Moon and Pomegranates—A Woman’s Trek through Turkey: Üstün Bilgen-Reinart
Published by Dundurm Press, 2007, 240 pages Üstün Bilgen-Reinart is a Turkish woman, who moved to Canada to study when she was 18 and stayed on. But in the late 1990s, she moved back to Turkey to spend more time… Continue reading
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The Summer Book: Tove Jansson
Published by Random House / Sort Of Books, 1975, 160 pages Tove Jansson is a Finnish writer best known for her children’s books about the Moomins. This is one of her few books for adults—a gentle, meditative narrative about the… Continue reading
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The Politics of Washing—Real Life in Venice: Polly Coles
Published by Robert Hale, 2013, 206 pages If you have ever wondered what it would be like to live in Venice, this book is for you. I read it on a trip to Venice, and it gave me a completely… Continue reading
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On The Noodle Road—From Beijing to Rome with Love and Pasta: Jen Lin-Liu
by Jen Lin-Liu Published by Riverhead Books, 2013, 400 pages Food and travel—what’s not to like? This is a book about food across cultures—in this case, pasta in all its forms (I use the term to include noodles, dumplings, etc.).… Continue reading
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Italy—100 Locals Tell You Where To Go, What To Eat & How To Fit In: Gigi Griffis
Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014, 322 pages. If your way of traveling is to rush through places, ticking them off your list, then this book is not for you. If, however, you want to really get to know… Continue reading
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A Slow Train to Switzerland: Diccon Bewes
Published by Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2013, 320 pages While researching a book on a Switzerland, Diccon Bewes—a Briton who has lived in Switzerland for over eight years—found a reference to a diary written by an English woman, Jemimah Morrell (known… Continue reading
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The Olive Route—A Personal Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean: Carol Drinkwater
Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006, 448 pages. Carol Drinkwater is passionate about the olive tree—she has an olive grove in Provence—and this book is about her search for its history around the Mediterranean through Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Malta, Tunisia,… Continue reading









